As we close out 2016 I wanted to share some best practices for recognizing and rewarding the top contributors in your community. Whether they are super users who take pride in answering others questions or super-star content creators, everyone likes to be acknowledged for their contributions.
In the State of Community Management 2015, we found that while most communities recognized key contributors in some way – with badges and swag most often – they often failed to provide real, business-driven rewards for community advocates, such as opportunities to test products, feedback opportunities and access to executives.
That’s not to say recognition and badges don’t matter – they are a valuable way to say thank you, and let others in the community see the people you count on to contribute, giving others someone to emulate and see as the leaders you want them to be. Being an advocate takes time and effort, however, and to make advocates a valued part of the community, make sure you are giving them real value in return.
If you’ve got some downtime this week, why not think about ways you can reward and recognize your most active and influential community members? Building in a monthly process for acknowledging these members can go a long way toward building morale and ensuring continued engagement. Check out these post for ideas on ways to make your community advocates and super users feel special:
5 reasons to recognize the superheroes in your online community
Give real responsibilities, and real rewards, to your community advocates
Real rewards for community advocates
